CHAPTER 4

Imagine my shock when I woke up in a tiny apartment the next morning.

The strong smell of sweat, the filth of clothes loitered everywhere, the hard mattress I was lying on, the noise coming from neighbors could only mean one thing, I wasn’t in my mansion but where was I and what was I doing here?

I struggled to my feet and head for what looked like a bathroom and the shock of seeing someone else in the mirror made me scream, I didn't sound or look like myself at all. Was I going mad? Was this some nightmare?

I ran back to the room to look for my phone to call Mason, I didn't find it but I saw a book that read Bella's journal on the bed, I toss it aside and kept looking for a phone.

I found the remote instead and turned on the television, it was on the news channel.

The weather reports were coming in when all of a sudden I see breaking news flash across the screen with a picture of myself

I was shocked to see it but even more shocked as I heard the reporter say

"Popular business magnate and socialite Nicole Reyes was reported dead by her husband this morning, authorities confirm that she had died from an accidental bathroom slip, our condolences go out to her family in this time of mourning, we'll keep you updated on any developing story"

The news made me buckle and I screamed and fell down in tears, my memories were coming back to me at full speed.

Mason and Claire had killed me and tagged it an accidental bathroom slip, the world was indeed cruel.

But why was I here? Why am I alive in another person's body? Who is this person?

I notice a half-open bottle of Xanax pills on the bed and a letter on the bedrest.

I read the letter and discover that this lady had actually committed suicide by overdosing on Xanax the night before.

I quickly grab her diary and read to know more about her, I discover that her name is Bella, she is 23, she has no family, her father was her last living relative and he just died of blood cancer.

She saw herself through college waiting on tables and with loans but now she couldn’t secure any job, she owed about eighty thousand pounds, she was six months behind on rent, her car had just been repossessed and she only had three hundred pounds in her checking account.

It is a real mess of a situation but still I don’t think anyone should take their lives for anything, I say to myself and then it hit me, that her life is now mine.

I am Bella, I am her, I owe the debt, I have to pay the rent, I’m the one with no job, my old life is gone, confusion overwhelms me and I start to cry

There’s no way I’m letting Mason and Claire win for what they’ve done to me, I say, but what can I do in Bella’s body?

Telling anyone I was reborn would get me into a psych ward or worse I would become a specimen for some creepy scientist.

My thoughts are interrupted by a phone ringing, I follow the sound and find it under the coffee table.

I see it’s a notification for a job interview tomorrow by 8am at Strong Haven headquarters.

I drop the phone and scoff, no way I’m working for Chris, not even if I get a third life, my stomach starts to growl and I realize the time is 3pm already, so I order a pizza.

I step into the bathroom for a shower and for the first time I get a good look at my new body

Bella is a very beautiful girl, she has beautiful brown eyes, just below shoulder length blonde hair, we have very similar body types but I was more toned than her, her breasts were far bigger than mine and she has really nice curves, she’s probably about 5’8ft tall, a little shorter than me and she had very pale skin.

I finish from the shower and I continue to read her journals. She has had a very tough life but she also had a lot of potential.

It’s a shame she had to take her life, while I was struggling for mine, she was willingly taking hers

This is such a paradox I say to myself as I finish the last slice of pizza.

Her phone beeps again and it’s a text from the apartment manager reminding her that she was going to be on the streets unless she made payment in 3 days as promised

Damn, I can’t be on the streets, I don’t even know where I’d go, “I hate you Mason” I mutter to myself

Maybe I should go for the interview, I hate Chris but I really need to stay above the waters if I’m going to figure out this new life.

To the world Nicole is dead and I cannot let Mason win, not after what he has done to me.

But am I really going to be able to work for Chris? I probably won’t even get to see him so maybe there’s no need to panic.

Right now, I may be a lowly graduate but still no one knows this business as I do, not even Chris himself

I could use my knowledge to work my way up in his firm, save some money and then start all over again while I figure out what I’m doing in Bella’s body or I could even help him just take over the company from those treacherous bastards.

Nicole is gone, I can never be her again but I won’t live to see two wicked and ungrateful entities enjoy all my years of blood, sweat and tears.

Thank God Bella keeps a journal, I know pretty much everything I need to know to be her for now and it doesn’t even matter, she’s Nicole now, this is a new beginning for the both of us.